Search form

"I'm not going to buy any presents this year. We will go shopping as a family for these homeless teenagers, and I'll try to be honest about the equivalent I would spend on my own children on the commercial holy days if I believed in them. I report this in some hope of feeding a little rebellion I sense many of us are quietly tending. But I also make it public to be sure I follow through."

"Thank you for expressing so eloquently what I feel. It is always good to know there is connection, and through that validation, with others on an internal level that is so deep it is not often expressed. Belief systems are tricky; even to oneself."

We are facing an economic and spiritual crisis that threatens our survival and our deepest humanity. But it also an opportunity. It is an opportunity to create a more just way of living. In earlier, more dangerous times we created families, villages, places of worship and respect for one another. We have that creativity within us still.

Let us all celebrate this holiday season through the eyes of a "beloved community," turning away from wanting things to valuing people. We can turn to one another and ask what kind of community we can create together.

Take a few minutes and read the rest of Gloria's essay. You won't regret it.

Anger is a moral response. But the exacting measure of our humanity is how we wield and transmute it - the legacy we give it in the world.

Like many of you, we are still thinking through the horrific tragedy in Connecticut. We heard from many kind listeners who thanked us for broadcasting Krista's interview with Kate Braestrup as a response to the unfolding news. Though it was not our intent, it was the right conversation during some of our country's darkest hours. I offered a brief explanation about why we chose last week's program.

As we plan the next season of The Civil Conversations Project, we're thinking about how we can foster a better public dialogue. But what's our approach? As Krista said to me this morning:

"How do we talk about gun violence without it devolving into the same old debate? If we try to turn this into a discussion that draws on our shared humanity, surely we'll find a way to bring in subjects like mental illness."

How do you think about our national conversation on these subjects? Who would you like to hear in dialogue wrestling with these important issues? Write me at tgilliss@onbeing.org or @trentgilliss.

On a bit of a lighter note, this image by C. Edward Brice paired with Carl Sagan's words really grabbed our readers this week:

“The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.”

Two shows we're working on for 2013:

Editing last summer's interview with the wonderful Roshi Joan Halifax @upayazen - the embodiment of "engaged Buddhism." Will air in Jan.

Reflections

Instead of a gun in a policeman's hand in every school,at the yearly cost of $80,000, let's put a musical instrument in every child's hand. The NRA could finance this and pay a music teacher. What a wonderful world it would be.

Thanks for these lovely statements. Gift giving as an expression of love is always good, and the Christmas tradition before it became commercialized was a good one. Maybe the best thing that might someday come from it would be to extend it to every day of the year, that is, to make every day a day of expressing love by doing good for someone. To keep it honest, the gift giving must be without a tradition of exchange, and the most grateful one is the giver, who is fortunate enough to be able to give, rather than the recipient, who, being unable to give, enables the giver to justify his good fortune.